"Amidst the growing tensions in the Middle East over a host of issues including civil wars in Syria and Yemen and the uncertainty over the Islamic State, on 1 May 2017, the militant Palestinian national movement, Islamic Resistance Movement or Hamas unveiled its new charter. Considerably diluted from the earlier one of August 1988, this charter was made public in Doha by its Political Bureau Khaled Mashal. The new Charter was rejected by both Israel and the Fatah-dominated Palestine National Authority headed by Mahmoud Abbas. Given its significance, the latest as well as the 1988 Charters are reproduced here."

—Editor